The Nirvanic State Is the Illusory Manifestation and Revelation of Tathagatagarbha

The state of Nirvana is an illusory manifestation of the Tathagatagarbha; it is not truly existent. It is attained through cultivation; without practice, there is no Nirvana state. Afterward, one must emerge from the state of Nirvana, at which point the Nirvana state vanishes and changes. This demonstrates that such Nirvana is subject to arising and ceasing. Therefore, it is said that Nirvana is also unreal; only the essence of the Tathagatagarbha is truly real and unchanging. The quiescent nature of Nirvana revealed by the Tathagatagarbha is genuine. Nirvana with remainder, Nirvana without remainder, and the Non-abiding Nirvana of the Buddha stage are all phenomena that first did not exist and later came into being; they are thus illusory phenomena, phenomena subject to arising and cessation. Except for the Non-abiding Nirvana of the Buddha stage, which never perishes, neither Nirvana with remainder nor Nirvana without remainder can endure without cessation. Only the virtue of Nirvana revealed by the Tathagatagarbha is real, immutable, and neither arising nor ceasing.

Misdefining a concept does not necessarily hinder the attainment of fruition; defining it correctly does not guarantee it either. Attainment of fruition, or genuine practice, does not depend on the definition of concepts. There are Arhats of the Four Fruitions who cannot expound the Dharma, and there are ordinary beings who can articulate the cultivation and realization states of Arhats of the Four Fruitions. Cultivation does not lie in how one expounds the Dharma, but in actual realization and the practice of the mind.